


(Away) Mission Impossible

by StarshipHufflebadger



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Adventure, Badass Reader, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Rescue, Whump, away mission
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-30
Updated: 2018-01-30
Packaged: 2019-03-11 09:11:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13521111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarshipHufflebadger/pseuds/StarshipHufflebadger
Summary: Leonard finally goes on an away mission and ends up getting captured.  Reader is on the rescue team to get him back and ends up getting injured herself. (female reader)





	(Away) Mission Impossible

          “You’ll only be gone a few hours,” you reason, walking quickly to keep up with Leonard’s fast, agitated stride.  He grunts at you in response, and you bite back a laugh.  “Seriously.  You guys just have to drop off the supplies, have a chat with the leader of the village, and then you’ll beam back.  Easy peasy.”  Leonard snorts in derision at this evaluation.

           “It’s never that easy,” he says, shaking his head.  “I don’t know why Jim couldn’t just have had M’Benga go.”

           “Well, M’Benga went on the last six away missions that required a doctor,” you point out, and Leonard rolls his eyes, prompting you to hurry on before he can speak again. “Before you say “But he likes going!”, that’s not the point.  He’s not feeling well, and it’s  _definitely_  your turn.”  The two of you slow and then stop to allow a few people to pass, and he peers down at you, looking both annoyed and like he grudgingly thinks you may have a point.

           In just another moment, you’ve reached the transporter bay, and you stop and stand back to let him pass.

           “Aren’t you coming with us?” Leonard asked, his tone still one of huffy annoyance, though now sounding a bit confused.

           “Nope, I’m assigned to the next mission, not this one,” you reply, glancing at your communicator as it makes a noise.  “I was just tasked with going to get you, because everyone else is here already.”  You gesture into the transporter bay, where a group of officers are standing, waiting.

           “Oh.” Leonard’s voice was flat and he hovered for a second, unsure of what to do.

           “Well, have a good mission,” you say cheerfully, and he shoots you a dark look.  You grin at him as he says nothing, turns and heads towards the others, enjoying ribbing him.  You know you’ll probably pay for it later with snarky insults, but you’re okay with that - at least it’s something.  You watch from the doorway as all the officers present find themselves a teleporter pad and stand at the ready.  Leonard glances in your direction and you give him a finger-wiggling wave with a large smile on your face.  The last thing you see before he disappears is him rolling his eyes, and you giggle as they all beam away.  Maybe one day he’ll realize that all he wants in the world is to be with you, but you know it likely won’t be anytime soon.  You head back down the hallway back to your quarters for a nap before your security shift near the cargo bay in a couple of hours.

———-  _a few hours later ————–_   

           “Well, this is just perfect,” Leonard grumbled under his breath as the alien in charge of him pulled his hands back around a pole and then tied them together.  “Absolutely wonderful.”

           He watches as the others on the away team are also tied up, arranged in a large circle facing inwards, each tied to a different pole that he can see are the support beams for the hut they’re in.  The crew are in varying states of consciousness and injury; at least one of the security officers is unconscious, several others have been beaten up and are dripping blood where they sat.  Most of the others have some bruises and a few cuts from being manhandled; he himself is sporting a bleeding lip, but Leonard is a relieved to see that aside from the unconsciousness, there seems to be no major injuries.  He really wants to get to the slumped officer across from him, but his bonds are tight and the aliens either don’t understand english, or they refuse to communicate, because every time someone tries to talk to them, they get hit.  

           Leonard sighs as one of the command officers attempts to reason with what seemed to be the lead alien, only to get a spear hilt to the gut.  The command officer grunts in pain and falls silent for a while as he breathes through it, clearly trying to figure out another tactic.  The aliens leave the hut and immediately some chatter breaks out, the command officers trying to figure out what to do.

           “Doctor!” Leonard looks around as someone calls to him, and he squints through the dim light to see one of the science officers looking at him.  “Doctor, he’s not doing well.”  The science officer nods at the security officer beside her, the unconscious one.  Leonard peers at him as best as he can from where he is.  He can hear the man’s somewhat ragged breathing but other than that, he can’t discern much in the darkness of the hut.  

           “Is he bleeding badly anywhere?” Leonard asks the science officer, whom he could see looking over her neighbour.  “Or any obvious fractures?”

           “I don’t think so,” she says, and he can hear the strain in her voice as she attempts to move more than her bound hands allow, attempting to see as much of him as she can.  “Not that I can see, anyway.”

           “Okay, that’s good.  Now watch his chest, does it seem like he’s breathing fast or slow?”

           “Um, a bit slowly, I think,” she says after a moment, staring intently at his chest.  Leonard nods, making note of it in his mind.

           “What about his pallor?  Is he pale? Clammy?” Leonard asks, and he hears her make a noise of frustration as she attempts to see.

           “I- I can’t really tell, it’s too dark in here,” she sighs after a moment, shaking her head.

           Leonard was in mid-sentence, asking about something else, when the aliens return, and they immediately flare up when they hear the chattering.

           “No. Talk,” they snarl in halting English, and spread out, approaching the people who had been talking.  Leonard looks defiantly up at the one standing over him, then glance around its legs to finish his sentence to the science officer, whose face takes on a terrified expression when she realizes he’s going to continue speaking.  She shakes her head frantically at him, but he ignores it and speaks the last few words of his sentence, caring more about the other officer’s health than the stupid alien now growling at him.  The science officer looks back over at the security officer, but before she can nod or shake her head, Leonard glanced back up at the alien.

           “We. Said. No. Talk.”

           “Some of our officers are hurt, and I’m a damn doctor,” Leonard snarls, ignoring the science officer’s horrified stare at his defiance.  “If you’re not going to let me examine them, then the least I can do is–” Leonard’s words are cut off as the alien punches him across the face, prompting a grunt from him as pain explodes through his cheek and nose.  Slightly dazed, Leonard stays silent for a moment as he absorbs the pain, his breathing faster, blood slipping from his nose and dripping off his chin onto his shirt.  He barely notices that the alien had disappeared for a moment, but now it reappears, carrying a rough strip of cloth.

           “We. Make. You. Stop. Talk.” The alien glares at him, then roughly forces the strip of cloth into his mouth, tying the ends behind his head as a gag.  Leonard glares up at the alien, but recognizes that he is hooped.  He glances around; two of the command officers have been gagged as well, and everyone else has been scared into silence.  Leonard sighs heavily and closes his eyes, letting his head droop, his nose throbbing and still bleeding, and hopes that someone would realize soon that they’ve been kidnapped and come to rescue them.

—————-

           You wake from your nap with a start as your comm went off loudly, scaring you out of a pleasant dream.  Shaking off the images of a beach somewhere warm and sunny, you fumble for the device and flip it open.

           “Yes?”

           “Lieutenant, report to the transporter bay immediately for briefing,” came the voice of your superior office.  

           “Yes sir,” you respond at once, snapping the device closed and leaping out of bed.  You put your comm back into your pocket, grab your phaser, tuck it in your belt, and hurriedly shove your feet into your boots and lace them securely up.  You dart out of your room and hurry down the corridor towards the transporter bay, wondering what’s going on.  Had the away mission gone sour?  Or is there some other problem?  Your superior officer rarely sounds so urgent, so there’s worry gripping your chest as you move quickly towards your destination.

           You arrive at the same time as several other security officers, and you join the group that has already gathered inside.  In total, there are about ten of you, all in varying states of wariness, excitement and worry.

           “The away mission has gone bad.”  Your boss cuts straight to the point, addressing the group of you.  Your heart sinks as you listen to him, explaining that the group had been captured by hostiles and were now being held against their will.  As he was wrapping up, the Captain entered the room and you all immediately salute him as he walks up to your superior and they have a quick, quiet conversation.  Your commanding officer nods grimly and steps back, and the Captain turns to face you.

           “I’m going to lead you guys on this one,” he tells you briefly.  “I’ve encountered these aliens before, they’re not easily dealt with.”  Jim Kirk pauses, looking around at each of you, as though to get a reading on how everyone is feeling.  You eyes shine with worry but also determination, and Jim nods slightly after he met your gaze.  “Alright, let’s do this.  Let’s get our people back.”

           A small cheer goes up from the group and you all hurry onto the transporter pad, taking a spot.  After a moment, you feel the familiar hot, tingling sensation, close your eyes, and suddenly you’re on the ground in an unfamiliar forest.  As everyone takes stock of themselves, Jim motions for you all to follow him and begins to creep through the trees.  You trust that he knows where he’s going and keep a sharp eye out around you as you follow him through the trees, the rest of the group spread in a line behind you.  Aside from the odd rustle and crack of leaves and sticks under feet, everyone is silent, the tension weighing heavily upon the group.  After what must have been a half hour at least, you finally reach the edge of the treeline.  Jim suddenly halts and shoots out an arm to stop you; you walk into his arm but stop immediately when you feel it make contact with your chest.  Whirling around, you gesture to the rest of the team to stop and be silent as Jim peers through the foliage at the edge of the forest.

           “They’re in there,” Jim breathes to you, as you’re standing right beside him.  You lean down to where he’s looking between fern leaves and squint in the direction he’s pointing.  You see several sturdy-looking huts, the one in the middle surrounded by alien guards.  You nod to show him you saw and swallow your fear.  The aliens have long, lethally-pointed spears, but you have phasers.  They look like they’re good fighters, but you and your group have been trained in combat by the best fighters the Federation has.  

          Jim gestures for the group to gather round and whispers out an attack plan, gesturing and trusting your training to follow his instruction.  Once everyone is on the same page, Jim sends you to spread out around the edge of the little village.  You’re positioned near Jim, between he and another security officer, one much senior to you who has seen plenty of action.  This makes you feel a little better, being between them, and you take a deep breath to pump yourself up, feeling the adrenaline start to pump through your veins.  You are going to get them back.  You are going to get  _Leonard_  back.  It was the first time you’d allowed yourself to consciously think his name since you’d gotten the news that the mission had gone sour, and your grip on your phaser tightens in determination.

          Jim gives the signal and you begin to push forward, but it goes wrong almost immediately.  The aliens clearly have many lookouts, because a horrible, shrieking alarm goes off and you hear a horrible cry of pain following a thumping sound, and look over to see one of your colleagues collapse to the ground, a spear through his chest.  There’s another scream and you dart to the side just in time to see another of your fellows take a spear to the shoulder, also falling to the ground and moaning.  The aliens start to advance towards the treeline, and you hear Jim’s voice from behind you, calling for everyone to fall back and regroup.  You hurry to obey, forced to shoot the alien closest to you that had spotted you and was pursuing.  You sprint through the trees once you were sure it’s down and no longer moving, arriving at Jim’s rendezvous point, panting, heart pounding and out of breath but uninjured.  A few more officers join the group after a moment; two limping, one seemingly uninjured and another sporting a bleeding gash on one arm.  You wait, but no more come.  There had been ten of you at the start; now, only six are here, including you and Jim.  You know for sure that the officer who had taken the spear to the chest was dead and the one that had taken a spear to the shoulder was down, but that still leaves two more unaccounted for.  

          “We need a new plan,” Jim says grimly, acknowledging the absent officers just by the unhappy look on his face.  They’re clearly more prepared than we thought.  For now, let’s scout the entire area.  Stay back in the trees and see what you can find out.  Report back here in twenty minutes.”

          “Yes sir,” you reply in unison with the others, and set out in all different directions.  You decide to go to the west, keeping the village just barely in view through the foliage on your right.  You’d been creeping for nearly ten minutes when something catches your attention; behind a hut, there are racks and racks of the spears all the aliens carried.  It’s clearly some kind of storage area, by the looks of it, where all the spears in the village would be stored when not needed for guarding.  You creep a little closer, wondering if there was any way your team could steal or destroy the spears so that more guards couldn’t appear with more spears.  You approach slowly, passing under a large tree, when you step on something that feels round, like a ladder rung or a rope.  You look down as you slow to a stop, and the word “rope” barely registers in your brain before chaos erupts.  You unintentionally let out a shriek as a whirlwind of leaves engulfs you, ropes wrap around you and you’re hoisted off your feet into the air.  You gasp, struggling, as your arms as pinned tightly to your chest and and your legs tangle painfully in the rope.  You realize you’re upside down, dangling a few feet off the ground, and clearly must have stepped into some kind of trap.  Panicking, you try to wriggle free but the ropes around you are strong and it accomplishes nothing but making you wobble back and forth in place.  Your heart is racing so fast it’s making you dizzy (although that could also be because you’re upside down), and all you can do is hope that one of your fellow officers finds you before the aliens do.

          Your luck seems to have run out, however, because only a few seconds later, two of the aliens appear nearby, clearly having heard your initial scream.  Cursing, you struggle to free yourself again, but it’s pointless and all of you know it.  The aliens laugh and move around behind you; there’s a moment of silence, and then suddenly you’re falling, smashing into the ground face-first as they cut the rope holding you up.  They bodily pick you up as you splutter and spit out dirt and shake your face, trying to dislodge the old leaves stuck there.  One of the aliens untangles your legs from the rope, and you struggle with it as it ties the rope behind your back, leaving your arms completely bound and trapped beneath it.

          They lead you away from the tree and into the village, one of them with a hold on the scruff of your neck and your hair, steering you around corners.  You wonder if any of the team is watching and knows you’ve been captured, though you know your absence will be noticed once everyone reports back to Jim. The aliens are rough with you, jerking you around corners and past many huts, and you realize the village is a lot larger than you had thought and you must have crept around behind it.  

          Within minutes they’ve brought you to the hut that your group had originally spotted, with many guards around the entrance.  The aliens holding you converse quickly with a couple of the guards, and you’re patted down.  They take your phaser and the large knife sheathed in your boot, but you notice that they have missed the small blade you have tucked into a hidden pocket in the sleeve of your shirt.  Once they’re satisfied that you’ve been disarmed, they shove you into the hut.  You stumble and nearly fall through the door but just barely manage to stay upright, blinking in the dim light and looking around.  You’re just starting to make out the outlines of your crewmates, sitting on the ground and spaced evenly around in a circle, when they shove you again, trying to get you farther into the hut.  This time you don’t manage to stay on your feet, and let out a small cry as you crash into the ground, your arms still uselessly bound to you.  There’s a soft murmur of worry from the crewmates, but no one says anything outright.

          The alien who shoved you hauls you back towards the entrance and roughly maneuvers you into a sitting position.  It unwinds the rope from around your chest and quickly ties your arms behind the pole you’re leaning against, checking that the knots are secure before standing up and leaving the hut.  You sigh and look around, seeing sympathetic faces all around you and feeling pretty embarrassed that you, one of the people who were supposed to be helping to rescue these people, had gotten yourself captured.  You look at each face, trying to make sure that everyone is present, and suddenly notice that Leonard is bound to the pole just a couple of feet away from you, staring at you with both alarm and concern.  You give him a weak smile and a shrug, when you notice that he’s been gagged, as well as a couple of the command officers.  You look around and notice that there’s a few smaller injuries and one of your fellow security officers is slumped, unconscious on the other side of the hut, but otherwise everyone seems mostly okay, so at least there was some good news.  You glance around to make sure that none of the aliens are inside the hut and speak softly to Leonard.

          “Have they given any motive for the kidnapping?” You ask him, and he shakes his head.  “Is anyone dead?” you ask next, fearing the answer, but feel a wave of relief as he shakes his head again.  “Anyone need medical attention?”  

          Leonard nods, gesturing with his head over to the unconscious security officer.  You nod in acknowledgement, and notice that several people are staring at you in fear and are shaking their heads frantically as you open your mouth to speak again.              

          “I– What?” you ask the nearest person on the other side of Leonard, distracted by their frantic head shaking.  Their eyes widen a little but they just continue shaking their head, and you stare at them, confused.  “Are you okay?  Do you need help?”

           “We’re not allowed to talk,” they hiss quickly to you, then immediately shut their mouths and look fearfully towards the entrance.  Understanding washes over you and you glance around, noting that the people gagged are those whom you’d have pegged as the most likely to talk back, definitely including Leonard.  You smile slightly at him, and he seems to understand your train of thought, because he rolls his eyes at you.

           “Couldn’t resist back talking, eh?” you ask him quietly, and he shrugs, but you can see a flash of defiance in his eyes.  “Well, I’ll talk quickly then,” you say, nodding in acknowledgement of the person who told you you weren’t allowed to talk.  “There were ten of us sent down from the ship, including the Captain.”  You think about mentioning the four missing from the last huddle, but think better of it, not wanting to scare anyone more than they already were.  “I’m sure they’ll call for backup, when they notice that I and maybe others have disappeared,” you say quickly.  “They’ve seen where we’re being kept.  They’ll come for us.”   You shut your mouth as one of the aliens pokes their head in the door, glaring around at them all.

           “Who. Talk?” It scowled at them all, looking at you for a moment, then looking around.  Unfortunately, a couple of the others unconsciously glance at you as well, and the alien notices.  With a growl, it approaches you and your heart begins to pound hard again, staring up at it with what you hope is a defiant look.  “You. Talk?” It asks, glaring down at you.

           “No!” You respond immediately, and it growls again at the sound of your voice.  Nervous, and worried they’ll punish someone else for you talking, you can’t help but add “Well, yeah, okay, it was me, but I just wanted make sure everyone was oka-” You let out a pained gasp as the alien drives the butt of his spear hard into your stomach, making you double over (as far as you can with your hands bound), breathing fast and hard as your entire midsection throbs horribly.  The alien shoves your head up and forces a gag into your mouth as well, tying it roughly behind your head and storming back out of the hut.  Slightly shaken with your stomach aching something fierce, you glance at Leonard, who looks both concerned and exasperated.  You give him a little shrug and a sheepish look, vowing to wait until nightfall to try and stage an escape.

          The darkness deepens almost by the minute and after what feels like eternity, it’s almost too dark to see.  You wait until your eyes have adjusted to the near blackness and then slowly begin to move your hands, wriggling until you catch hold of your sleeve.  With difficulty, you manage to extract the tiny knife and begin meticulously sawing at the knot of the rope holding your hands together.  It takes a long time, many long minutes, because the rope is thick and the blade is very small, but you eventually manage to cut all the way through.  You unwrap the rope and wriggle your hands free, rubbing your wrists where the rough rope had bit into the skin.  You glance towards the door and when you hear no movement or any indication that the aliens are moving around, you put your knife in your mouth and crawl as silently as possible to Leonard’s side.  You can’t really see so you reach out and touch his arm to orient yourself, making him jump, startled.  You feel your way up his neck and to his face, slipping your hands behind his head and fumbling with the knot of his gag, finally managing to untie it.

          “What are you  _doing_?” he hisses immediately, alarm in his voice.

          “Rescuing you,” you hiss back.  “Now _SHH_.”  You trail a hand down his arm, following it behind him, and blindly feel the knot binding his wrists together.  With a bit of trial and error, you manage to figure out how to undo the knot and quickly get his hands untied.  “If anyone comes before I’m done untying everyone, pretend that you’re still tied up,” you whisper to him.  

           “No, you get out of here,” he whispers back, urgently.  “I’ll untie people, you go and find Jim and the rest of your group.”  You pause, mulling the option over in your head.  It  _would_  be a good plan, really.  That’s assuming you’d be able to get out of the camp unscathed, anyway.

           “Okay, fine,” you agree.  You can just barely see his face in the dim light, and you reach up and squeeze his shoulder.  “Be safe.”

           “You too,” he replies in a breath, and what little you can see of his face shows that he’s deeply worried about you, but both of you know that desperate times call for desperate measures.  You creep towards the door as he creeps in the other direction to the person beside him.  You’ve just reached the edge of the wall and are about to try to slip out of the door when you hear footsteps.  You flatten yourself against the wall as you have no time to get back into your original spot and thank your lucky stars that at least Leonard hears the footsteps too and slides back into his spot, putting his hands behind his back like he is still tied up.  An alien enters the hut just as he settles his hands behind him and you hold your breath as it looks around.  While it’s fumbling to get a lantern lit, you slip out of the door and run for the trees as silently as you can, somehow managing to avoid the other guard, who was thankfully looking the other way and didn’t hear your light footsteps as you sprint away.

           You’re just thinking you’d actually managed to get away, the treeline in sight and getting closer fast, when another alarm goes up, as horrible and shrieking as before.  You gasp as aliens emerge from huts all around you, most of them carrying spears and lanterns, and you realize that you’re completely screwed.  Four aliens spot you at the same time and you yelp in fear as several spears shoot towards you at once.  You manage to throw yourself behind one of the huts just in time, and scrabble to your feet, running as fast as you can. You dodge around an alien as it steps out of its hut, just barely ducking under its arms as it lunges for you.  Another swings it’s spear at you as you appear around a corner, and though it doesn’t stop you, you cry out as you feel the very tip of the spear slice into your cheek, feeling hot blood pouring down your face.  You don’t stop running, though you do veer off in a different direction, hoping to throw them off.  

          Just as you’re nearing the treeline in a different direction, you hear the whooshing sound of another spear being thrown and scream in agony as it pierces into the back of your calf.  You stumble as the searing pain slices through your leg and fall, crashing painfully to the ground on your chest and face, scraping yourself up.  Panicked and in a hell of a lot of pain, you drag yourself forward through the dirt, crying out and trying to get up but unable to put any weight on your injured leg, the spear still stuck into your flesh. In a matter of seconds, several aliens crowd around you and you cry out as they kick you hard in the ribs a few times, pain exploding through your chest, before one of them hauls you to your feet.

          The alien holds you up as one of his fellows punches you in the gut a few times, making you groan and cough hard as the wind is punched out of you, unable to curl in on yourself because of the alien holding you up.  You struggle to get free, trying desperately to ignore your pain, but the alien punches you hard across the face once, twice, and finally a third time, your head lolling after the third hit, completely dazed as blood drips from your nose and split lips.  Another alien comes forward and, satisfied that you’re incapacitated for now, they drag you back, one each supporting your shoulders as your feet drag uselessly.  You whimper and groan in pain as the spear wobbles in your calf, and most of your body aches.  You realize after a few minutes that they’ve dragged you back to the hut, and two aliens go into the hut first with lanterns, illuminating the room as one alien maneuvers to drag you in himself, forcing you to limp along in front of him, one arm around your neck and the other around your chest.  

          You hear a few people gasp as your bloody face is illuminated but you can’t muster up the energy to try to be reassuring; it’s all you can do to merely stay standing, let alone anything else, even with the alien holding you up.  

          “This. What. Happen. If try. Escape.” The alien snarls at everyone, turning your head so everyone can see, making you wince as he angles your head towards the lanterns.  He suddenly throws you from him, shoving you forward, and you cry out briefly as you fall, but then your head cracks against the large wooden pole in the middle of the hut and you’re knocked unconscious, falling silent instantly as you crumple to the floor, chest down, face in the dirt.   You’re completely unaware that as you hit the ground, you fall right in front of where Leonard is sitting, pretending to still be bound, and he stares at your slack, bloody face in horror and anger.  You’re blissfully in the dark as he lets out a yell and everyone leaps to their feet and jumps on the three aliens in the tent, subduing them just as phaser fire can be heard outside.  As the backup seizes control of the village, the prisoners manage to overthrow the few guards not attempting to repel the Enterprise’s forces.

          It’s many minutes before you wake, and when you do, everything is fuzzy, confusing, and painful.  You can feel someone gently shaking your shoulder, and you think you hear your name, but you’re not sure.  You slowly open your eyes, groaning a little, blinking sluggishly.

          “Oh, thank god,” you hear a sigh of relief and try to open your eyes a little wider, wanting to know who’s speaking.  “Welcome back,” the voice says, and you finally recognize it.

           “L-Leonard?” you ask,your voice catching as you try to raise your head and feel pain shoot through you.  

           “Yeah, that’s me, sweetheart,” he says, and somewhere in the back of your head, you register the ‘sweetheart’ with both glee and confusion.  On the surface, though, you’re still groggy and unfocused.  “Don’t raise your head just yet, okay?  Let me do a scan.”  You obey him without second thought, letting your cheek settle back into the dirt where it had just been; thinking that it’s easier to lay still than try and see what’s happening.  You can hear him talking to someone, and hear the familiar sounds of a tricorder whirring as he runs it up and down your body and over your head.  He starts speaking again and you hear mostly murmuring, the sound fading in and out as your eyes close.

           “Moderate to severe concussion, several cracked ribs, deep wound in the left calf,” you can hear him saying, and wonder blearily who had gotten hurt so badly.  “She’s also got numerous small lacerations and bruising, but I’m not really worried about those.”

           You groan as you feel a hand on your throat, and realize someone is moving their fingers to your pulse point.  You lay still, feeling your pulse pounding against their fingers, noting that their hand is warm and gentle.  You open your eyes again and try to move, but the hand shifts from your neck to your shoulder and presses down gently, holding you still.

           “Don’t worry, darlin’, we’re going to get you out of here,” comes Leonard’s voice, gentle and reassuring.  “There’s a stretcher coming for you, just one minute.”  

           A few moments later, you can feel several sets of hands lifting you, and you cry out in pain as both your calf and your ribs throb.  Someone shushes you gently, trying to comfort you, but you can’t help crying out again as they gently flip you over and settle you onto the stretcher.  Someone lifts your head and slides a pillow under it, and you can feel people attending to your leg.  The agony is so bad that you can’t speak, though tears are streaming down your face, leaving tracks through the dirt and drying blood on your skin.  You can hear Leonard saying he’s going to give you something, but it doesn’t really sink in what’s happening until you feel a sharp sting on your neck as he injects something with a hypospray.

           Almost instantly your body feels heavy and warm and within seconds your pain starts to fade.  After a minute or so, your body relaxes and you let out a soft sigh of relief as your eyes flutter closed again and you fall asleep, your head lolling before they’ve even moved the stretcher out of the hut.  

           Leonard stares down at you as your body relaxes and your face clears, his heart clenching painfully as he looks over you.  You’re covered in dirt, dark smudges of it over your cheeks and your clothes covered, and there’s blood all over your face and neck, from the slice in your cheek and also your nose and split lips.  The large, deep spear wound in your calf is bleeding profusely, and now that you’re asleep, Leonard starts to wrap it tightly to staunch the blood.

           He walks alongside your stretcher as it moves towards the transporter point, and glares at the aliens that have been handcuffed and are being marched past, to be transferred to the holding cells on the ship.  He isn’t sure which one beat you up, but he wishes he could inflict pain on them for what they’d done.  Instead, he settles for glowering at them and holding your hand, monitoring your vitals as he waits for you to be beamed up.

           Once back aboard the ship, instead of tending to his own injuries, Leonard hurries alongside your stretcher and orders everyone but Christine to go away while he treats you.  

           “Leonard, I can take care of this.  You need to take care of that face,” M’Benga says, appearing in the room and gesturing to the blood on the lower half of Leonard’s face.  Leonard shrugs and ignores this, continuing on like hadn’t heard.  M’Benga sighs and leaves the area, knowing that it’s pointless to argue.

           “Christine, help me turn her over.”  They turn you over and Leonard gets to work on your leg, cutting off the pant leg at the knee and cleaning the wound as you blissfully sleep on, the medicine he’d given you still working its magic. Leonard works in silence, making sure the wound is completely pristine before beginning to suture it back together, Christine assisting him without a word, working seamlessly together.  Once the wound is completely stitched, they gently turn you over again and Leonard dismisses Christine as he begins to work on your smaller injuries.

           You begin to stir as he washes your face, sweeping a wet cloth carefully over your cheek, wiping away the blood and dirt as gently as he can.  You groan a little and he stops, watching you as your eyes slowly open.  He gives you a small smile as you peer blearily up at him, blinking a few times, his image swimming before finally coming into focus.  

           “Hey,” you croak at him, trying to smile back.  You glance around you, trying to figure out where you are, and realize you must be back on the ship and in the medical bay.  “We back on the ship?” you ask, your voice weak.  He nods, and you sigh in relief.  

           “Just let me finish washing your face, then we can talk,” he tells you, and you nod slightly, feeling a little bashful.  He re-wets the cloth and continues to gently wipe your face, and you do your best not to wince when it hurts.  You look up at him while he works, and you’re surprised to see the tender, concerned look in his eyes.  You attempt to process this while he finishes up, and he smiles at you as he puts the bloody, dirty cloth aside.

           “There, that’s good for now,” Leonard says, and still you can hear a warmth in his voice you’ve never heard before.  You stare at him as he pulls up a chair to sit beside you, and he shakes his head.

           “You scared the shit out of me,” he says, sounding pained, and you frown at him.  “It was bad enough when they dragged you in the first time, all tied up…” You swallow hard as fear flickers through you at the memory, and he reaches out to take your hand.  “But when they threw you down when you got caught the second time…” He trails off, and you can  _see_  the emotions going through his eyes as he looks at you.  You stare at him, your mouth slightly open in astonishment at the sound of the fear and worry in his voice.

           “I guess I realized in that moment how much you mean to me,” Leonard says softly, squeezing your hand.  “I was scared I was gonna lose you.”   Your heart races as look up at him, making the bio bed beep in caution, but aside from him glancing quickly at the monitor, you both ignore it.  

           “I… I don’t know what to say…” you manage after a few long moments of silence.  Leonard squeezes your hand and you squeeze it back.  “I thought we were just friends, but the way you’re l-looking at me right now…” you trail off, your heart skipping a beat as he smiles.

           “I thought so too, but,” he shrugged.  “I guess sometimes it takes a dire situation to make people realize they’re in love.”  He chuckles as you choke a little at the word ‘love’, absolutely stunned by this turn of events.  Of course,  _you’ve_  been in love with  _him_  for months, but you’d never dreamed he’d see you as anything more than a friend.  Hell, you’d been ecstatic just to be friends with him and get to hang out with him once in a while.  Now he’s admitting he’s in love with you?!  It’s a lot to process, and you know you’d be blushing if you hadn’t lost a lot of blood already.   

           “I, well…” you falter, searching for something to say. You’re very aware of his gaze on you, and you look up at him, biting your lip.  “Well… what do you mean, a dire situation? I totally had it under control…” You grin up at him, and he rolls his eyes, then chuckles lightly.

           “Sure, darlin’, sure… You keep telling yourself that,” he says in amusement, patting your shoulder. You let out a soft laugh, feeling a bit more comfortable, and squeeze his hand back.  

           “Thank you for taking care of me,” you say, your voice quieter and more sincere.  You seem to notice for the first time that he has blood on his own face, with an obviously split lip.  “Especially when  _you_  need taking care of…”

           “Anytime, sugar,” he says, giving you a quick wink that makes your heart leap.  “Don’t worry about me.  Thank  _you_  for rescuing us.”

           “I didn’t do anything but get myself captured, though,” you look away, feeling embarrassed and more than a little ashamed.  “Some rescuer I am.”  Your tone has dropped, and he frowns, taking your hand in both of his.

           “Hey.  You were really brave.  And you managed to get yourself out and untie me, which let me untie everyone else while you were gone… we overthrew the guards after they brought you back.   _You_  made that happen.”  His voice is sincere and you can hear pride underneath his words as well.

           “Wait, you guys overthrew the guards? That’s awesome!” you exclaim, smiling.  “I’m glad getting knocked out counted for  _something_.” Leonard chuckles and glances up at  the monitors, then down at you again.

           “I still would’ve preferred that not happen at all,” he says, looking a bit grimmer again.  “But at least you’ll be alright, especially with me watching over you.”

           You smile and let out a small giggle at his confidence and watch as he stands up, retrieves an instrument and returns to your side.

           “Alright, sweetheart, I’m just gonna run this dermal regenerator over that cut on your cheek, can you hold still for me?”  

           You nod and let your head fall still on the pillow as he reaches over and stabilizes your head with one hand on your good cheek.  You concentrate on the feeling of his warm hand on your face as he begins to use the regenerator on you; the heat and prickly feeling it brings is uncomfortable but the feeling of his hand on your skin makes you feel safe and secure.

           He runs the regenerator for a few minutes, and when he’s done, he very gently runs a fingertip along the pink line left behind.  It makes you wince very slightly and then shiver as he withdraws the hand under your cheek, gently settling your head back onto the pillow.

           “There, just a scar now.  That should fade in a week or two.”

           “Thank you,” you tell him, reaching for his hand again.

           “Don’t thank me, sugar,” he says, smiling, grasping your hand and stroking the back of it.  “I’ll always be here to care for you.”

           You smile at him again, but your smile fades as you realize your pain is starting to return.  You shift uncomfortably, and he notices immediately that something is wrong.

           “Is the pain coming back?” Leonard asks in concern, and you nod, squirming a little and whimpering as pain ebbs through your calf and down your leg into your foot.  “I’ll give you some more pain meds, the stuff I gave you earlier is only good for a few hours.  You need to rest, anyhow, and it’ll help you sleep.”

           You nod and watch as he rummages in the cabinet nearby and turns back with a hypospray in hand.  He loads the device with practiced ease, then gestures to you to tilt your neck.  You do so obediently, letting out a soft gasp at the sharp sting as he injects the medicine.  He smooths your hair out of your face as you feel the warm, numb feeling starting to spread throughout your body.

           Your body relaxes within seconds and within another moment or two, your eyes have closed.  You’re vaguely aware that Leonard is stroking your hair still, and then you feel a blanket being pulled over you, up to your shoulders.

           By this time, you’re falling deeper and deeper into the inky blackness of dreamless sleep and your head lolls slightly as you drift off.  He smiles and strokes your hair once more, leaning closer to place a gentle kiss on your forehead.   He begins to walk away and pauses in the doorway, turning down the lights to their dimmest settings and just watching you sleep for a few, thanking his lucky stars that you’d survived, and with manageable injuries.  After he’s sure you’re deeply asleep, he wanders off to clean his own face and heads down to the cafeteria to replicate some of your favourite foods, eager to tempt you with some of them once you wake up again.

**Author's Note:**

> Please comment! <3


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